Sönke Meinen, born in 1991 and raised in Ihlow/Ostfriesland, studied with Prof Thomas Fellow, Prof Stephan Bormann and Reentko Dirks at the Dresden University of Music, where he himself held a teaching position from 2019 to 2022. He has played concerts all over the world (Australia, China, Japan, Russia, Korea and almost all European countries) and performed at the biggest guitar festivals in the world, including the Bridge Guitar Festival (Netherlands), the Ullapool Guitar Festival (Scotland), the Ronda Guitar Festival (Spain), the Xiamen Week Of Guitar (China), the Presov Days of Classical Guitar (Slovakia), the Vienna Fingerstyle Guitar Festival (Austria) and many more. Participation in the "Acoustic Guitar Spectacular Tour" brought him to many of the most prestigious venues in Australia, such as Brisbane City Hall in 2017.
Sönke Meinen has won numerous awards - in 2016 he received honours at two of the biggest international guitar competitions: the prestigious "Guitar Masters" competition (1st prize) and the "European Guitar Award" (sponsorship award). He was also honoured with the "Eco Music Promotion Prize" in 2015 and the "Artesano Guitarist of the Year" award in 2016.
When he is not on stage in a duo with Bjarke Falgren, Sönke Meinen performs as a soloist or in a duo with guitarist Philipp Wiechert. Outside the stage, Sönke Meinen is a sought-after lecturer and workshop leader as well as the initiator and (together with Philipp Wiechert) artistic director of the "Freepsum International Guitar Festival", which has been held annually since 2011.